Early Hungarian Dances from the 17th century

The composer wrote of his work as follows: In the music of Hungary, folk songs are manifestly of great importance, on the other hand our ancient airs and dances play a modest role. For this work I have been influenced by dances of the 17th century, written by unknown amateurs in a relatively simple style. Most of these dances were recorded between the 14th and 18th centuries under the usual form of tablature notation. My interest in this music was first captured in the 1940s. I was so fascinated that I decided to give these melodies new life. I fitted the little eight-bar dances together into ternary and rondo forms, and leaning on early Baroque harmony and counterpoint, Iattempted a reminiscence of that atmosphere of the provincial Hungarian Baroque.

Instrumentation: 4 fl1, 4 fl2, 2 ob, fg, 4 cl1 Bb, 4 cl2 Bb, 4 cl3 Bb, 2 cl b Bb, 2 sax a Eb, 2 sax t Bb, sax bar Eb, 3 tr1 Bb, 3 tr2 Bb, 3 tr3 Bb,2 cor1 F, 2 cor2 F, 2 trb1, 2 trb2, 2 flic t Bb/C, 2 euf C/Bb, 4 tb, glsp, xyl, 1 timp, cymb, tamb b, gr c, trgl